3D Printing Daily: Wednesday, April 1st, 2026

🔧 Firmware & Software

FreeCAD 1.1 Released — Open-source CAD gets major Assembly workbench upgrades. The update includes transparent Part Design previews, interactive draggers for Fillet/Chamfer, a new Clarify Selection tool, and a revamped CAM tool library. The Python API has been completely replaced for better scripting.

🖨️ New Hardware

Creality IPO Filing Shows Revenue Growth — Creality Hong Kong IPO filing reveals RMB 3.13B in 2025 revenue, but market share dropped to 16.9%. Bambu Lab now dominates with 35.5% GMV share — up 3x from Creality.

AMT + Raise3D Partnership — AMT announced a partnership to provide vapour smoothing solutions for Raise3D RMS220 SLS users. The SF2X system ships June 2026.

🌟 Print of the Day

EDs on 3D Printing Brainless Microrobots — Leiden University researchers developed 3D printed microrobots that swim and dodge obstacles without any brain or nervous system. The robots use "physical intelligence" — shape-driven behavior rather than computational control.

🤖 AI & Models

Tripo AI Pushes Forward — Tripo AI $50M funding enables 100x faster 3D generation, producing production-ready assets in 2 seconds. Backed by Alibaba and Baidu Ventures.

🔥 Community Buzz

Bambu Lab X1 Series EOL — The X1, X1C, and X1E have reached official end-of-life. Five years of support guaranteed. The series launched the CoreXY revolution and made multi-color printing mainstream.

Defense Sector Momentum — AML3D secured $1.84M US Navy contract for submarine replacement components. Portsmouth Naval Shipyard installed the first welded AM part on an operational US Navy submarine (USS Washington).

📌 Quick Fixes

Resin Safety Concerns Grow — Growing concerns around consumer resin 3D printing safety. Industry experts cite uncured resin and inadequate ventilation as liability risks.

Fix First-Layer Adhesion — PLA corners lifting on PEI? Clean the plate with warm water + dish soap, add a brim, slow the first layer to 20-30mm/s, and kill drafts.